Bulky spacesuits force them to either hold their urine and feces, possibly for up to 12 hours, or use a diaper. Aside from fasting, there really is no other option.

But the future of going potty in space suddenly looks pretty practical thanks to the ingenuity of Dr. Thatcher Cardon, a 49-year-old family doctor, flight surgeon, and USAF colonel who lives in Del Rio, Texas.

Space agencies are looking to send people to the moon, asteroids, and even Mars, so adventurous humans will need to use the restroom in space — which is why HeroX and NASA teamed up to launch the Space Poop Challenge.

"You need to plan for emergencies. If a small meteor puts hole in the Orion spacecraft, for example, astronauts might have to spend six days in their suits until they can get back to Earth, or they can fix the hole," Dr. Cardon tells Business Insider. "There was no option inside of a spacesuit for feces, except for a diaper, until now."

Dr. Cardon shared photos and video with Business Insider of his incredible solution — called the MACES Perineal Access and Toileting System (M-PATS) — to this decades-old problem.

Here's how his invention works and why it just might revolutionize space travel.

Going to the bathroom in space is no fun, even if you have access to a toilet.

Dr. Cardon says the idea came from laparoscopy, where complex surgery is performed through a small hole (usually with the help of a robot) instead of a large incision.

"I thought, 'why couldn't we handle waste through a small opening? We can replace heart valves through a hole in a blood vessel, why not this?'" he says.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

Here's how it works: The PAP is a miniature airlock. When an astronaut is ready to go, he or she removes a safety cap.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

Next, the astronaut attaches a self-closing valve to the port. Dr. Cardon says his prototype is an early mock-up, but the idea is to have the valve (left) open inside the suit.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

Finally, the astronaut inserts a tube called an "inducer" into the valve. "This prevents gas from escaping, and it also equalizes pressure so it's easy to open," Dr. Cardon says.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

From there, an astronaut can insert a variety of bathroom wizardry into their spacesuit without depressurizing their suit to the vacuum of space.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

One of Dr. Cardon's big breakthroughs was an inflatable bedpan.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

The bedpan is lined with soft terry cloth and contains a lubricant. It curls up, slides through the inducer, pushes through the port, and moves into position inside the spacesuit.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

Astronauts then squeeze an inflator bulb attached to the bedpan. "It inflates the device like a flower into a full-blown bedpan," Dr. Cardon says. "This creates space in the suit. It's nice to have space to defecate."

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

The lubricant makes sure any stool slips into the bedpan and doesn't stick, while the terrycloth helps with cleanup. After an astronaut is done with the bedpan, it deflates, curls back up, and pulls back out the inducer tube.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

Other tools help clean up, like a water-spraying bidet. But the "hygiene wand" with a wet wipe roll on the end looks truly revolutionary.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon; Business Insider

To understand just how magical the hygiene wand is, watch this animation. As Dr. Cardon pulls on a plastic-lined cover, the wand's never-ending wet wipe rolls into itself.

Fresh space underwear can even go through the inducer tube. This one is for men.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

And this is the underwear prototype for women.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

Either one will collapse to fit into the inducer, slip through the port, and unfold inside the suit.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

There are also urine collection devices for male and female anatomy.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

A battery-powered "universal suction device" helps pull waste into the bedpan or urine collectors, and ultimately into waste collection bags.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

"I think the thing that’s so great about the invention is the versatility," Dr. Cardon says. "A lot of things could go into this port."

"You could use this port to do a lot of different things, even emergency surgery. Put a port like that right over the navel, you could do abdominal surgery. One on the chest could give you access there."

Spacesuit engineers demonstrate how four crew members would be arranged for launch inside the Orion spacecraft, using a mock-up of the vehicle at Johnson Space Center.
NASA/Robert Markowitz

"If astronauts are ever in a situation in space where trauma is involved, like asteroid mining, you might want to have those ports there," he says.

Two of Dr. Cardon's teenage kids (three others are off at college) helped buy the supplies, and his wife helped with fabrication efforts. They were ecstatic when he won — it took them five weeks' worth of nights and weekends to make the prototype.

Dr. Thatcher Cardon.
Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

Dr. Cardon will use his $15,000 prize to cover the $1,000 he's already invested, plus buy some new tools to keep developing his idea. "I always wanted to be a biomedical engineer and ended up becoming a family doctor," he says.

Courtesy Dr. Thatcher Cardon

"I think I could still become a biomedical engineer," Dr. Cardon tells Business Insider. "I guess I never thought astronaut poop would be the way into it."